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Cancer survivor still seeks to live out big-league dreams

Opening day is always exciting for baseball fans who love the game. An Olathe man's desire to be on the field carried him through a devastating cancer diagnosis.

"My plan was, like any other kid, to play Major League Baseball," said Jimmy "Hooty" Wade. "I thought one day I am going to get there."

He said he knew early on that he belonged on a baseball field, dreaming of playing at Kauffman Stadium and other big-league parks.

He was at Kauffman Stadium as teams across baseball opened the season Monday, but he wasn't playing. He was hanging signs with his company.

Wade, an Olathe North High School graduate, was on track for a promising career before a rare cancer diagnosis hit him like a 95 mph fastball.

"It was kind of like a numb feeling," he said. "People asked me how I felt. It's like, you know, you heard it, but what are you supposed to think when you hear that?"

Wade was a high school junior when he got the news. The treatment took a toll on his body, but he persevered through weight loss and lack of strength. He was treated at the University of Kansas Cancer Center and has been cancer-free for six years.

"And then I got thinking, 'If I still want to play, how can I still play and be around the game?'" he said.

This season, he will be a bullpen catcher with the Kansas City T-Bones, an unaffiliated team in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.

"I'm big enough to catch and I'm good enough to catch guys throwing 90 and 95 (mph pitches)," he said.

Wade also shares his stories with young ballplayers, educating them about the dangers of chewing tobacco, even though he never used it himself.

Despite beating cancer, graduating college and continuing to play the game he loves, Wade said he still has one goal. He wants to somehow make it onto a Major League Baseball field.

"In my mind, I can still make it up here and I'm still going to try to make it up here," he said.

Wade said he's not seeking stardom. He just wants to be part of a team. He said he'd like to be on the field at Kauffman Stadium in some capacity, whether it's working with the equipment managers or the grounds crew or some other role.

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